Only A Fairytale
by Hayashi-kun
Summary: A book, a song and a web of cursed fates.
1. The Fairytale Has Begun

Disclaimer: Tenipuri and all its characters belong to Konomi Takeshi.

Note: Inspired by the song 'It's only the fairytale'.

--

A small hand passed over the aged books of a mighty old shelf. Gentle fingers began collecting dust upon them until they finally paused. Printed in large gold font were the words 'Earth's Fairytale'. The hand grabbed the book from the shelf and flipped it open. The book had no author, but there on the first page was a song. For an unknown reason, the reader was compelled to sing it.

"Who are those who dance in pain?

Trapped in their cursed fate.  
Twelve of them shining brightly like stars reflected in a lake.  
They're dancing like flames of love,  
Dreaming of a place where they're free to love.  
They've never been allowed to love in this cursed fate,  
It's only the fairytale they believe..."

The book began to shine with a bright light and what could the reader do but shield their eyes? A page began to rip itself apart from the book, shredding itself into twelve pieces and floating off, carried by an artificial wind.

"The book! It..."

"Sakuno!" A distant voice yelled.

"Ah! Coming!" What should she do now? If her grandfather found out... Perhaps she should just keep it with her until a solution presented itself. Yes, that was a good idea. After all, who would notice one missing book?

As the girl ran down the stairs, the book glowed faintly. The shredded pieces of one of its pages had been found, and a new fairytale would begin once again...

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Ch 1: Romance of the Sky and Sea

Disclaimer: Tenipuri and all its characters belong to Konomi Takeshi. This disclaimer applies to all chapters.

--

A week after the incident, Sakuno had still not forgotten about what happened. She had taken to carrying the book around with her in fear that her grandfather would find it.

"Honestly! What are you carrying in that bag? It looks like a brick." Tomoka said sounding very fed up.

"It's nothing Tomo-chan..." Sakuno replied nervously.

"Huh, well, whatever you say. Let's go check out those dolphins!" Tomoka said, grabbing Sakuno's arm and dragging her off to the dolphin exhibit.

"Tomo-chan!" Maybe coming to the Seishun Marine Park was a bad idea.

--

"Shishido-san, thanks for coming." Said a certain silver haired boy.

"Ah? Oh, it's nothing Choutaroh..." Shishido mumbled.

"Shishido-san, you look...troubled. If it's because of this, I'm sorry and..."

"No. It's nothing." Exactly how many people would take you seriously if you told them a glowing piece of paper saying 'The fairytale has begun.' showed up on your desk while you were cramming for tests? Well, maybe some would, but the thing that happened after that...he seriously did not want to think about it anymore.

"Maybe we should get some food first." Ootori said.

"Yeah, I could use a good cheese sandwich right now..." And they made their way to a food stand.

"Ah, but I don't think they sell any sandwiches here, Shishido-san."

"Damn!"

--

"Niflheim."

"Yes, master?"

"You said there were some of them here. How many, exactly?"

"...Two at the moment."

"I see. This is going to be...interesting. Niflheim, I'm going to have a look at the polar bears first. They remind me of Tezuka..."

"...As you wish, master."

"Oh yes, and is it possible for you to give me a brief description of how they look?"

"One is wearing a blue cap. The other...I can't see the other. I can feel the other's presence, yes, but the other hasn't seen their Spirit Avatar yet."

"'Their'. So we don't even know their gender."

"I'm afraid not, master."

"Not a problem. All we need is bait."

"Master?"

--

"Goddamnit, how do you work this thing? Piece if crap." A frustrated Shishido-san said, messing around with the buttons of his brother's digital camera and on the verge of throwing it into the nearest exhibit. Apparently, he was not quite familiar with the use of these 'goddamn things with too many features'. "I just want to take a picture, damnit! Not a video or whatever else you have."

"Shishido-san! You'll spoil it if you keep doing that." Ootori said worriedly as he steadied Shishido's hands and pressed the button to take a picture.

"There. Just press that button and don't touch anything else." Ootori said, sounding like a mother instructing her child not to play with electrical appliances around the house.

"Thanks, Choutaroh." Somehow, Shishido wished that, for once, he could help Ootori instead of it being the other way around.

--

"How convenient is it that there's only one person with a blue cap today? Heh. Well, I suppose it's time. Niflheim, attack now."

"Yes, master."

The ground began to shake, as though an earthquake were coming. People fled aimlessly, looking for a place to hide until it was over. Animals began making distressed sounds, knowing they could never escape. Suddenly, a gigantic mole-like creature with an emerald gem on its forehead burst out of the ground.

The creature made its approach towards its unfortunate victim, ignoring the path of destruction it left behind.

--

"Shishido-san! Quick! We have to go! ...Shishido-san?" Shishido was just standing still in his place like a statue. Ootori tried to drag Shishido away from the seen, but he stubbornly stayed routed.

"No. I'm going to help you this time. Raiden!"

The sky grew dark, clouds began to gather and rain started to fall from the sky like tears. The clouds parted to form a circle, a large ray of light shining onto the mole-like creature.

The creature lifted its head and seemed to smirk, as if knowing what was going to happen next.

Through the hole in the clouds flew another gigantic creature, a crane with magnificent wings and an opal placed upon its forehead. It flew straight towards the mole, almost resembling a lightning bolt about to strike the earth.

"So it's a bird. But what about the other one? Hm. Niflheim, damage this one badly but don't kill it yet. I want to see what the other one is."

Niflheim, the mole-like creature, nodded its head and burrowed beneath through the concrete floor, beneath the ground, successfully evading the crane's attack.

"Grr...This is so lame. Raiden. Let's wait for the coward to show its face." Shishido said, a determined look on his face. The crane creature, Raiden, maintained its position above ground, watching, waiting for the mole to resurface.

"Shishido-san...What's going on?" Ootori asked like a lost child.

"Choutaroh...I wasn't sure if you'd believe me, but now..."

--

"_What is this? Some kind of joke?" Shishido wondered if he should just rip the piece of glowing paper apart. The problem was that it was glowing and it even had his name written on the back of it. Maybe it was one of Mukahi's pranks? But the glow from this paper was not like those that were given out by glow-in-the-dark stuff._

_In the end, Shishido decided to just throw the paper into the dustbin and pretend nothing had happened. For the rest of the night, the paper did not appear in front of him again. Instead, Shishido had a weird dream. _

_He was standing above the earth, in the clouds. He felt lucky that he was alone up there, as he could feel his fear of heights beginning to take over._

"_Shishido Ryoh." A voice said. Shishido turned around quickly, wondering who...or what called his name._

_Standing before him was a crane. It looked like an ordinary crane, except for the opal upon its forehead._

"_Who...What are you?"_

"_My name is Raiden. I am you Spirit Avatar."_

"_Spirit Avatar?"_

"_The fairytale has begun. You have been chosen to be a character."  
_

"_Fairytale? Character? I never asked for any of this!"_

"_No one ever does. Unfortunately for you, the invitation found you. It found your name. And it bonded me to you."  
_

"_But I threw that piece of paper away!"_

"_The invitation only serves the purpose of notifying a character and bonding a Spirit Avatar to them. Their disposal means nothing. However, the time of meeting for the Spirit Avatar and character are completely up to the Spirit Avatar."_

"_Couldn't you just leave me alone then?"_

"_No. I believe you're in danger."_

"_Danger? What danger? Hey! Wait! Where are you going? Come back here! Oi!"_

"_Call my name and I will appear in your world."_

--

"Shishido-san! Did the paper look like this?" Ootori said, retrieving a piece of glowing paper out of his pocket and showing it to Shishido. Shishido had a look on his face that seemed to be a mix of horror and surprise.

"Choutaroh...Have you met it yet? Your Spirit Avatar..." Shishido asked.

"No, but maybe..." Before Ootori could complete his sentence, Niflheim burst out of the ground once again and jumped towards Raiden from behind as if wanting to headbutt it.

Raiden had been caught of guard, it flapped it wings, trying to dodge. Just as it was about to get hit, a powerful stream of water shot towards Niflheim, smashing its body against the ground.

"A whale, is it? Water. Marine Park. We're outmatched and outnumbered. Niflheim, retreat now!" And Niflheim burrowed deep into the ground, escaping once again.

"What a coward. But...what was that?" Shishido turned towards the sky, looking for the source of the stream of water. Beneath the clouds, a gigantic humpback whale with a pearl upon its forehead was floating, making sounds only whales made.

"Your name is Poseidon?" Ootori asked. The whale nodded and slowly disappeared into the clouds. "But I have so much to ask." Ootori thought.

"You understand whale speak?" Shishido asked, watching Poseidon disappear, Raiden following behind it.

"It was talking with words, wasn't it?" Ootori asked, shocked.

"No. It was making those whale noises."

"But I heard words! Really, I did."

"Ah, forget it." Shishido was getting confused again. "Let's go get a sandwich."

"Ok, Shishido-san."

--

"Shishido Ryoh and Ootori Choutaroh of Hyoutei. A crane of the sky and a whale of the sea. Creatures with some of the most romantic displays of love, how fitting is that?"

A chuckle and a smile.

"I think we should finish them off together."

"Yes, master."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


End file.
